Hayden sets winning pace

Ryan Hayden of Richmond set a strong opening pace as Villanova won its first National Collegiate Athletic Association indoor track title in 22 seasons last weekend in Fayetville, Ark.

Hayden ran the 1200 metre leg of the medley in 2:55.

"Like in any relay it's important to have your first runner in the lead," Mike O'Connor, Hayden's coach with the Richmond Kajaks, said.

Hayden, 19, also qualified to race in the men's 3,000 metres in 8:00.60. The result is "truly outstanding" for a runner his age, O'Connor said.

Johns heads to worlds

Richmond's Brian Johns left Wednesday to Moscow, Russia to compete in the World Short Course Swimming Championships.

A member of the University of British Columbia swim club, the Sydney Olympian is expected to compete in both the men's 200- and 400-metre individual medleys.

Johns also qualified for the Commonwealth Games team and is scheduled to swim in the 200 and 400 individuals medleys as well as the 4 x 200 freestyle relay at the Games July 27 to Aug. 4 in Manchester, England.

He qualified for the Games at the national championships last weekend in Winnipeg, Man. He was third in the 200 free (a time of 1:50.06 was his best ever by more than a second), first in the 400 (4:19.49) and first in the 200 individual medley (2:01.30, which was one of the top five times in the world this season).

Reign net district crown

The Richmond Reign reached the top of the 5-District Gold Division girls' soccer league Sunday.

Ajay Sayer's goal on a penalty shot five minutes into overtime lifted Richmond over the West Vancouver Fury 3-2 in the title game.

The Reign played a determined game to hand the Fury their first loss of the season. Forward Isabel Nielsen opened the scoring five minutes into the match after keeper Alex Suto launched a free kick that put Nielsen in a good scoring position.

The Fury tied the game on a set corner kick 10 minutes later and then moved into the lead on what Richmond questioned as an off-side goal near the end of the first half.

Richmond came on strong in the second half.

With five minutes to go Nielsen placed a high corner kick toward the far post which Kim Aldridge deflected into the net on a well-placed header to send the game into overtime.

o The Richmond Girls' Soccer Association is accepting registrations for the upcoming 2002-3 season. Registration forms are available at www.richmondgirlssoccer.com.

Fairview advances in shootout

Fairview Automotive's hopes of a President's Cup title remain intact after a shootout victory Sunday.

Philip Wong scored the winning goal as Fairview outscored West Richmond 4-3 in the shootout to earn a 1-0 win in the Richmond Senior Soccer League match.

Wong also had a good scoring chance during regulation time but was stopped by West Richmond keeper Carl Neibel, who earlier stopped a shot by Tarnjit Atwal. Fairview also hit the post once.

The strong play of the full-backs was one of the keys to limiting the West Richmond side's scoring chances, Fairview goalkeeper Noel Estacio suggested. He was particularly complimentary of the play of Ryan Elliott, Trevor Price, Patrick Naughton and Donnie Loy.

"Those four guys gave us everything they had," Estacio said. "Because of their effort, I only had to make two or three real saves."

The shootout was necessary after the teams were scoreless through 90 minutes and two 15-minute overtime periods.

In other Cup play, the Rovers B team (third in the Second Division) upset the Old Boys (third in the First Division) 2-1; Cosmos (fourth in the Second Division) surprised Club India (third in the First Division) 3-1; Flying Beaver blanked Storming Hawks 2-0; Islanders edged Subway 3-2; Steelers doubled Wrestlers 4-2; and RJS Landscaping clipped Celtic 2-1.

In Challenge Cup play featuring Premier Division teams, Autobody outscored Fury 8-0 and the Athletics shut out the Hammerheads 2-0.

Junior curling ends Saturday

The youth curling season winds up Saturday with an open house at the Richmond Curling Club.

Organizers Bob Webb and Bob Favreau were encouraged by the increase of new players this season, many participating in an inaugural school-based program which drew eight elementary and 10 secondary school teams. The Richmond International High School also entered teams.

Although few of the international school students had curled before, they were enthusiastic and quick to pick up the game, Favreau said.

"They fast tracked because they were so intent," he said.

In addition, the Richmond Curling Club continued to offer a long-standing junior program for players aged eight to 17.

Saturday's season wind up begins at 11 a.m.

o BOWLING: Richmond's Erin Reid successfully defended her provincial youth 10-pin bowling title last weekend in Victoria.

Reid won the gold medal in the senior girls'' division to qualify to represent B.C. at the nationals in Winnipeg, Man. May 31 to June 2.

She bowled a total of 16 games in the two-day provincial competition, scoring a total of 3090 pins or an average of 193 per game. This is the sixth time in seven years Reid has qualified for the nationals. In the last five years she has won five gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

Meanwhile, Erin's brother, Ryan, won the silver medal in the senior boys' division.

o HOCKEY: Hap May scored on the powerplay with three minutes to go, and the Cowboys added an empty-netter, in a 4-2 upset of the first-place Blackhawks in the opening game of their Richmond Industrial Hockey League playoff series last week.

Bob Riddell of the Blackhawks had tied the game at 2-2 only a minute earlier.

The Raiders blanked Hillcrest 5-0 to take a 1-0 series lead in the other semifinal.

Richmond Midget Division teams net second, third

For the third year in a row, Richmond's Midget Division B1 hockey team finished as runners-up at the provincial championships.

The locals were 3-2 at the B.C. tournament in Kelowna this week, losing both games to Nanaimo - 5-4 in round-robin play and 8-6 in Wednesday's final.

"The boys played unreal," Richmond coach Scott Kobus said of his team, which was selected the most sportsmanlike.

Kobus was proud of the award, which he said reflected the players' consistently high standard of conduct throughout the season.

The Midget AAAs finished third at their provincials in Fort. St. John.

Miyazaki lifts the Rockets to crown

The Richmond Rockets surprised even themselves in claiming the B.C. Peewee AAA Girls' Hockey Championships Wednesday night at the Vernon multiplex.

The Rockets stunned the favoured Victoria Racquet Club Kings 2-1 in the final of the six-team tournament.

"We peaked at the right time where Victoria maybe peaked a little sooner," said Richmond head coach Ann-Marie Lowden, who was ecstatic following the win.

Victoria dominated play in the third period pressing for the equalizer after pulling to within one goal in the opening minute of the period.

Richmond goalie Katie Miyazaki was outstanding in the third period, making several clutch saves, including a sprawling stop on a breakaway attempt with 4:45 remaining.

"Goaltending was the key," said Lowden. "She made some incredible saves in the third period."

Lowden said she knew the Kings had solid potential to be contenders, but they weren't expecting gold.

"We came here and we wanted to be the best in B.C. Basically, we worked hard every shift, every girl from the beginning."

Richmond slammed Cranbrook 7-1 and upended Langley 5-1 in their final preliminary games to finish at 4-1. Victoria shut out Richmond 3-0 in round-robin action Sunday.

Victoria crushed the Cranbrook Ice 12-0 and toppled Kamloops Demons 5-1 in their last preliminary games. Langley placed third.

n The Ice Classic winds up today (Sunday) at the Ice Centre. The Peeww C Division final is at 1:30 a.m., the peewee A final at 1:45, the Peewee AA final at 3:15, the Bantom Division final at 3:30, the Midget A final at 5:00, and the Midget AA final at 5:15.

Golgis three-peat in West Coast hoops

The Golgis found a way to get the job done again Wednesday, outlasting One Time 68-66 for their third straight West Coast Basketball League playoff crown.

After ousting the Rim Gods last week to claim their spot in the final, the Golgis found themselves faced with another run-and-gun team, up-and-coming One Time. The previous two seasons, the Golgis faced the up-tempo Planet Fitness.

Fresh off what many pundits considered an upset victory over NT in last week's other semifinal, One Time needed to get off to a quick start and take control of the scoreboard early off fast break opportunities against the Golgis. But the reality was reversed as, surprisingly, the Golgis got out to the quick start by capitalizing on a number of defensive breakdowns by One Time. With Rider McKewon hitting for 10 first-half points, the Golgis went into the break up 32-24. The 24 points were the fewest One Time had scored in an opening half all season.

But just when any players or fans may have thought the game was a lock for the Golgis, Sherlan John and Damon Rozier came alive to hit for 26 points and bring their team back into contention. While One Time slowly clawed away at the lead, Golgis' forward Scott Elliot was making sure that his team kept control of the scoreboard, hitting for 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

Down three with under a minute left, a put back from Raph John Pierre brought the game to within one before a Golgis' free throw capped the game.

n Individual awards: League MVP, Scott Elliot (Golgis); Leading Scorer, Dana Maslovat (Rim Gods).

First Team All Stars: Dana Maslovat (Rim Gods), Novell Thomas (NT), Shaun Hartley (One Time), Axel Christainsen (Planet Fitness), and Sherlan John (One Time).

Second Team All Stars: Rick Gill (Rim Gods), Antoine Jones (NT), Pasha Bains (NT), Jay Guzman (Planet Fitness), and Dave Smith (Meralomas).